Book Review: Pieces of Me by Jacquie Underdown

A story about starting fresh, letting go, and risking it all for love…

For Hannah, Mercy Island is a refuge, a new beginning, and a place to find safety in her own skin. Here, in this peaceful, beachside place, she will rediscover all those pieces of herself her abusive ex stole away. For Bear, Mercy Island is a prison, a backwater, a place he can’t wait to escape. Away, in the city, he’ll chase his dreams and lose the bad memories haunting him.

When Hannah’s home is damaged in an ugly storm, Bear offers his handyman services to repair it—a last job and a pretty girl to pass the time before he heads out. But Hannah is terrified to lose herself in another relationship, and Bear isn’t in it for the long haul.

However, their simmering sexual attraction refuses to be ignored, and just because love isn’t on the line doesn’t mean sex isn’t on the table. A no-strings-attached brief fling to curb the tension and take the edge off. No ties. No emotions. No pain.

But love has a way of coming in the windows, even when you’ve slammed the door, if only Hannah and Bear can stop looking to the past and find hope in their future.

Book Review:

Honestly, there’s not much that I can say about this book other than I just didn’t like it. The very first thing that bothered me was the name Bear. I just couldn’t take him seriously with that name. Every single time that he made an appearance, I thought of this big fat, beefy, hairy man, which obviously took away from the appeal. Seriously, you got to think of the consequences of names!

I knew that I was going to possibly have an issue with this book, because the main character comes across as “broken.” Sometimes, that works for me. Usually, it does not. I have a very hard time dealing with weak female characters. I know that it’s supposed to be this big thing in the NA genre. Come on, though! Give your female leads some spunk! Make the men have to EARN them! Don’t always make the men protectors that come to the rescue because the female is a weak little baby who can’t take care of herself.

Another major problem that I had with this book were the descriptions. There was a lot of wording in this book. I’ve never really had to say this before, but this book had the case of over describing everything. To the point that it was making me feel like I was so stupid that I needed everything pointed out to me. I felt that this book really could have done with a better pair of editing eyes.

I feel really mean writing this review, but I’m just trying to be honest. Did it have potential? Yes. Did it meet that potential? No.